MPs FORUM: Homosexuality is not a human right

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill is a nice piece of legislation. It is a consolidation of values of Ugandans and the country at large. It aims at holding the integrity of Ugandans high in the sky. And we shall not compromise on this cause.

Uganda is not a copycat of other countries. We can’t do what other countries are doing—especially when such countries are doing the wrong things. The fact that the moral fabric in America and Europe has been put under siege by the supporters of this creeping evil of homosexuality should not suggest that we should follow suit.

And I think supporting the cause of this Bill will provide Uganda as a country an opportunity to provide leadership in this area of safeguarding the traditional family. I must also point out that this Bill is not about hate or discrimination. We are not involved in a hate campaign.

But we are pursuing a campaign and a genuine cause of protecting our traditional family. The best output from a family is got when it is led by a mother and a father. The family is the epitome of creation. And anything that deviates from our family values is evil, unacceptable. This Bill is focusing on ways through which Uganda can keep her family values safe and sound.

But ever since we tabled this Bill, we have come under attack. People have argued that we are promoting a hate campaign against homosexuals. And these attacks are coming mostly from civil society members who claim that homosexuality is a human right.

These same groups have persistently continued to place this evil in the category of human rights. They have rallied people to resist the Bill. They argue that we are targeting homosexuals, we hate them. But some of the people behind these messages are mothers and respectable people in our country.

Can you imagine mothers who are supposed to protect their children from abuses like sodomy are the very people protesting this Bill? Instead of protecting their children they are up in arms supporting abusers of these children! People who support this evil have endlessly started to threaten us.

But I want to assure Ugandans that no amount of intimidation will deter us from ensuring that this Bill becomes law. And we call upon all Ugandans to come on board and support, critique or add colour to this wonderful piece of legislation.

On a good note, however, we have received massive support from religious leaders, the government and many people from different circles of Uganda and other countries. In Uganda, there are people, mostly the old, who want to see a traditional family made up of man and woman solidified and not diluted by this same sex marriage talk.

The divine role of man is that of procreation, a far cry from this mentality that man and man can live in the same house as husband and wife, or a woman marrying a fellow woman.

We are happy that we are involved in this issue of attacking homosexuality head on. And generally people have started to see this cause as something that is highly needed. It is not an easy task. Combating homosexuality is not easy. There is massive recruitment in schools—mostly single-sex schools.

Since we tabled the Bill in Parliament, we have received calls from students in schools on a massive scale, urging us to go and help them. On top of this are the NGOs that are hugely involved in recruiting and giving money to our young children with the intention of swaying them into this evil practice.

But Uganda will never exchange her dignity for money. While we are poor in terms of finances, we are extremely rich in dignity. And we will never accept homosexuality for the sake of appeasing other countries or as an incentive for their money.

Comments

BAHATI BEWARE YOU WILL BE TARGETED AS THE ARCHITECT OF THIS LAW...TH HIGHEST LEVEL OF BIGOTRY...AND YOUR ASSERTION THAT UGANDA IS A COUNTRY OF DIGNITY..MY FOOT....

WHY DID AIDS ALMOST DECIMATE US..AND YOU CANT BLAME IT ON HOMOSEXUALITY OR THE WEST...WE ARE THE MOST PROMISCUOUS OF PEOPLE...JUST EVEN IN PARLIAMENT SEE HOW MANY OF THOSE MPS SUPPORTING THIS BILL CHEAT ON THEIR WIVES...AND THINKING THAT THIS LAWWILL STOP HOMOSEXUALITY IS JUST BURYING OUR HEADS IN THA SAND...

SOMETHING TYPICAL OF UGANDANS...THE REST OF THE WORLD SAW IT...EVEN IN THE WEST THERE ARE VERY MANY PEOPLE ANTI HOMOSEXUALITY BUT THEY REALISED THAT THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE JUST NOT LIKE THE REST OF US....

LOOK AT PEOPLE LIKE SIR ELTON JOHN..IMAGINE HE WAS DISCRIMINATED AGAINST WOULD WE EVER HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF LISTENING TO HIS GREAT MUSIC WHICH STRAIGHT PEOPLE ENJOY...MOST OF US GROWING UP LOVED HIS SONG SACRIFICE THAT WE ENJOYED WITH OUR GIRLFRIENDS!

WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE DESIGNERS LIKE VERSACE,GEORGIO AMANI...WE LOVE THEIR CLOTHS...IMAGINE THEY WERE SERVING LIFE SENTENCES FOR JUST BEING GAY...THATS WHY THE WEST WILL ALWAYS BE AHEAD OF US AS WE PROTECT"AFRICAN VALUES"...

YET THE WORST VALUES CORRUPTION.NEPOTISM,GREED CONTINUE TO EAT THE FABRIC OF OUR SOCIETY. HOW I WISH BAHATI WOULD INSTEAD TABLE SUCH A BILL AGAINST CORRUPTION...WITH SUCH STRINGENT MEASURES AGAINST THE CORRUPT...

THAT WOULD BE MUCH MORE BENEFICIAL TO OUR COUNTRY THAN THIS USELESS PIECE OF LEGISLATION THAT WILL NEVER GET ANYONE UNLESS THEY ARE GOING TO SPY IN PEOPLES BEDROOMS AND CATCH HOMOSEXUALS....

THEY WILL JUST GO UNDERGROUND...AFICANS LETS STOP HIDING BEHIND THE FACADE OF OUR VALUES AND DEAL WITH REAL ISSUES AFFECTING OUR SOCIETY INSTEAD OF HAVING SO CALLED MORAL CRUSADERS(BUTUURO0 YET WE ARE SO IMMORAL AS A COUNTRY...

David nees to difrenciate between rape, efilement and adult sex.As long as his bill attacks the actions of consenting adults in private it will be targeted.

As he is aware there are stiff penalties for men who go after children or fellow men who do not consent even if these men are also homosexual.As to it being disgusting that is subject to personal taste religion etc

I know that gay and lesbian groups in the West (esp USA) have been very vocal highligthing their sexuality and against discrimination say in employment on account of their sexual identity.

Consequently, Equal Opportunity policies in the West rule out discrimination on the basis of race, nationality, gender or sexuality.

They are not to be subjected to harassment either. This is the case whether one 'supports' or 'advocates for' homosexuals. And it does not mean that in the West all (or any) forms of sexual behaviour is permitted. People talking about 'the West' need make this discriminating observation.

I am not entering debate the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which is complex. Just highlighting bits that need re-thinking. One such bit is the reference to the 'traditional family'. That is a simplification, as the conception of family differs even in Uganda: single parent family, polygamous family, monogamous family, extended family etc.

Correct reasoning also comes in here. Whether you are for the Bill or not, you would probably admit that the family is not under threat or faced with extinction because of certain categories of unmarried people of whom they are many in Uganda.

… and like all other human beings you are struggling with this thorn in the flesh.

No one wants you to go to prison. On the other hand the punishment is supposed to act as a deterrent so that when you weigh your actions against the punishment you can choose not to proceed with the action.

The first step towards stopping the habit is to dislike what it makes you. For as long as you glorify a habit you can not stop it.

Do not accept your body and its demands to rule you otherwise before you know it you may want to have sex though the ears!!!! You may not be able to stop a bird from landing on your head, but you can stop it from building a nest on your head. Do not let the bird of Homosexuality to build a nest on your head.

Every time the bird flies towards your head, shoo it away and in time the bird will realize that your head is a "no fly zone"

You have everything it takes to be someone's husband and father- and for an African man that is an enviable place to be. It is your God given right do not let anyone convince you otherwise.

I just could not finish reading your views on the silly bill. Your views are naive, sickening, I am almost vomiting!!How on earth did you end up in Parliament? Let me educate you.

Homosexuality is not by choice. The way you hate homosexuals, I am afraid you yourself could be a homo who was denied a chance of comming out because of the rigidity of our society. Besides, homosexuality shouldn't even be on the list of worries of Ugndans.

Poverty, corruption, torture by government agencies, Museveni dictatorship, ignorance, all those, dear Bahati, need to be addressed, and I think your people sent you to parliament to discuss those, but not to hunt for which man sleeps with which man!!!

Shame on you... Be careful when discussing this Bill, you might be condemning your own child, father, brother, sister, auntie, your own son, daghter, or your best friend!! Shame on you and your bill.

Reading you article Hon bahati, I wanted to cry, for how can a person so naive like you could be a representative of a people?

But the I decide to laugh because when you make a fool of yourself, you don't deserve my tear! Uganda is facing lots of problems, and homosexuality is nowhere near the list.

Start from poverty, disease, ignorance, dictatorship, corruption, human rights abuses, murder, terrible roads and road carnage, to mention but a few! We still have MPs in parliament who were bought by 5 million to sell the country's constitition!!

We have polygamy which is one of the contributing factors in spread of AIDS. We have rich people like you exploiting young girls all the time. If you are talking of morals, start with yourself, you colligues, clean up corruption, and go on.

The list is big.I am surprised that up to now, you do not know that being gay is not by choice!!! The homos you are condemning could be you father, mother, grandfather, sister, brother, your son, your daughter, it could be you; which is likely because why on earth would you say that gays have no human rights?

That is because you probabaly are gay and you hate yourself for being so!! Do your job, and leave innocent people alone. There is a huge difference between homosexuality and pedophilia. Pedophiles whether strait or gay should be condemned.

By posting here, I am not trying to brainwash Uganda with western culture(hence why I will be upfront that I am from the west) but I wish to urge you to heed the West's mistakes.

During the 1980's when the HIV epidemic hit, individuals with HIV were shunned. It was viewed as the 'gay disease' and as such gay men lost their jobs, they were socially isolated and were refused medical treatment.

Doctors and nurses would refuse to touch HIV infected individuals for fear of the disease. And because of our homophobia thousands of people died and many more were infected.

While I understand that Uganda is doing everything to create a more positive impression of those suffering from Aids, the reality is a bill that makes it impossible for gay men to be treated will only encourage the spread of the disease and lead to more deaths. There is a reason NGO's are frightened by this bill and it has to do with experience.

Hon BAHATI thanks indeeed, and thanks to all those guys in the fight for morality like Martin Ssempa. If homexuals think that homesexuality is a good thing, why then do they move in hiding, why then do they have to cover their faces with masks each time they are in public?

be encouraged and never give up. we are praying for you.The intention of the bill is not to which hunt anybody but rather to protect our children in schools, those that are vulnerable and voiceless. so we can preserve the morality of this nation. Rememeber the future lies in the young generation.

I believe Uganda is a country governed by laws and homosexuality is actually not a sin but a curse.I would not want to be apart of a cursed nation nor do i want to see my sons and daughters angage in such wicked acts. Besides it does not result into anything good but rather an immoral society.

Stuff and nonsense. The bigotry coming from a black man is simply astounding. With your history of slavery and inter racial war one would have thought that African nations would know better.

But no, some people are no better than the slavers which blighted Africa. Shame on Bahati and all those who support his plans for this "cultural" cleansing of your country. Hitler and Stalin would have been SO proud!

Homosexuals are born homosexual, just as the Heterosexual is born straight. It is NOT a lifestyle choice or any other kind of choice. Read the science, get an education.

Bahati has presented a fine piece of propaganda here... Goebbels could not make it better.

Every line a lie, perfect in its cynism and shamelesness. He renames hate to "love", death to "live" and denounces love as "creeping evil".

The people of Uganda shall beware of the likes of this poor imitator of Goebbels. There was already a regime in 1933-1945 in Europe which was looking for its "special way", very contrary to the rest of humanity. The Nazis then not only went after Gays, but nearly exterminated their own people.

I have a friend of mine who entered into this curse of homosexuality and the guy sticks in the mouth and now is very sick with a rectum disorder .

This is a free and piece of advise to all these guys under this western thing, leave it or you will perish stop justifying yourselves this thing is out of human nature. I know many guys have gone there bse of money but man the end result will be an bearable. The things and use them the way God created them just remember the days of sodom and gomola.